Overview

• Japan’s Joint Staff reported spotting Fujian on Sept. 11 in the East China Sea with two destroyers, 124 miles northwest of Uotsuri Island and heading southwest toward the Taiwan Strait.
• China’s Ministry of National Defense said the passage was part of planned construction testing to conduct scientific research and training in the South China Sea, not aimed at any specific target.
• European Space Agency Sentinel‑2 imagery shows the carrier operating about 60 miles east of the Yulin naval base on Hainan, following open‑source reports of its first Taiwan Strait transit.
• Japanese officials said no aircraft were observed aboard at the time of the sighting and no takeoffs or landings have been confirmed during trials that began in 2024.
• The carrier’s movements come as Manila protests China’s new Scarborough Shoal ‘nature reserve’ and conducts naval drills with the U.S. and Japan, drawing criticism from China’s Southern Theater Command.